#Barbs being very complicated is a theme yes yes

[earl-grey-love]

how about 💚 and 💜 for the pre-relationship asks? (and I hope you're day has been going good~)

Oh, Hii Percy! 💖 Thank you so much for the questions. My day has been wonderful and I hope yours has been too! 💕

💚 do they both realize they have a crush early on, or does it take them forever to realize?

For Sunny, it takes some time. Her feelings for him are purely friendship once she gets over her initial fear of him. He's not the one she would have expected to feel that way for, and because of their limited access to each other, there's a desire to not go down that route. But those feelings don't go away. And some of that initial apprehension of getting to know him may even have been early attraction anyway.

Barbs is a bit more complicated, because I honestly can't decide on my preferred "canon". On one hand, I like the idea that he foresaw their inevitable relationship a very, very long time ago. While he intially thought it was awful when he was younger, by the time they actually meet, he's matured and come to embrace it. Though he does still need to get to know her in the moment and to allow his own feelings to grow, plus he will play hard to get. (+ the fact no matter the timeline, she also loves Mephisto)

But on the otherhand, I like the idea that he naturally falls in love with her over the course of their friendship. It takes him a long time to realize it's happening because romantic love is either something he's never experienced or hasn't for a very long time, and then he doesn't quite know how to deal with it. I also interpret Barbs' canon lack of pursuit of mc as him simply thinking he's not going to win and therefore gives up on principle.

So the truth is, I don't really know Barbs' side of things.

💜 how do they confess? is it a grand gesture or in a more mundane moment?

Again I don't have an exact canon on this, and it's because it's really rather mundane. Sunny will tell him how she feels the moment it really occurs to her and the timing feels right. Like they're alone and have had a warm moment together. And of course, Barbs doesn't give her an exact answer on his own feelings. When they actually come together to form an official relationship, it's more of a discussion than a confession, really.

[earlgraytay]

Hello. I'd be really interested in seeing you full-on rant on Dante's Inferno game. Sounds like it'd be really fun to read...Would you?

okay so here’s the thing: I cannot critique Dante’s Inferno 100% fairly because I did not play the game (I watched Let’s Plays) and I noped out pretty early (before the Cleopatara boss fight). If they do do something interesting in the late game, I wouldn’t know. This is just a Very Jaundiced first impression. Also I’m gonna call the game Dante’s Inferno and the poem Inferno for clarity’s sake.

Dante’s Inferno has the same problem Shadow of Mordor does- it is an adaptation that takes just enough from the source material to justify the gameplay, but completely bombs the tone and themes. In the same way that Shadow of Mordor being a game about revenge is a mockery of everything Tolkien stood for, Dante’s Inferno being a God of Warlike where you alternately murder and redeem the denizens of Hell is... ah.... well....

Inferno- and the Divine Comedy as a whole- is a very carefully planned work with a lot of Things To Say. It’s meant to be about - well, a lot of things. Florentine politics,  corruption in the Church, Dante #coping with the fact that a lot of the people he knew screwed him over and sent him into exile, etc. etc. There’s a lot of scenes in the Inferno that are basically the equivalent of “oh yeah, I talked to Ronald Reagan in hell, he prophesied about how God hates Republicans and will screw them all over, also he’s trapped in a coffin lined with red hot barbed wire and on judgement day the lid of that coffin will close for all eternity”.

 ...but the main thing Dante is trying to talk about, in Inferno, is the theological stuff about Hell and the nature of Sin. I am not smart enough to follow all the theology in Inferno, but basically:

At the beginning of the poem, Dante has screwed up. He’s lost his way in a dark wood, and is menaced by Figurative Animal Representations of the different kinds of sin (that also map onto Florentine politics- look, Inferno is complicated). Thanks to Divine Intervention, the ghost of the poet Virgil shows up to save him. He tells Dante that God’s chosen him and will save him from dying and going to Hell, but because Dante’s screwed up in life, he has to go through Hell and Purgatory to get to Heaven. And he’s going to write about his whole journey to show the world what it’s like. Dante takes this offer he can’t refuse, and the two of them set off into Hell.

Dante’s Hell is a place that is completely outside the presence of God. That’s why “Abandon All Hope, Ye Who Enter Here” is written over the gate. Hell is the place that God does not go, and because of that, it’s a blighted hopeless pit of eternal torture. 

There are parts of Hell that suck a little less, because of human virtue- for example, the first circle of Hell, Limbo, is the place where “virtuous pagans” and unbaptized infants go. (so the zombie babies? not a thing. super classy, game.) Limbo is a shining city full of the best non-Christians humanity has to offer- poets, philosophers, scientists, the works. But it’s sad and quiet. Even the best humans ever, in Dante’s worldview, can’t be happy without God’s presence.

And it only gets worse from there. The further down you go into Hell, the worse the tortures get, and the uglier the damned get.  Dante has a really good imagination for the gross and horrifying- by the third circle of Hell, the damned look like Resident Evil monsters.

So there’s two things going on as a result of this.

1)  Dante is completely powerless and basically a sitting duck for anything nasty. Demons try to attack him repeatedly. He’s super grossed out by all the over the top torture, overwhelmed by the damned’s sob stories, and disturbed by their various horrible fates. He gets so overwhelmed that he passes out. Repeatedly. We’re talking, like, five times.

There’s only one thing that can protect him, and that’s The Power of God (TM). Virgil can use a little bit of it, as given to him by God to help Dante. But there are a couple times where that isn’t enough, to the point where once they have to call in an angel. (Who is all stern and unforgiving, because this is Hell, he’s not there to be nice.)

As a sinner in Hell,  even though Dante’s alive, nothing he can do can save him. Without God’s mercy, Dante would be completely helpless.

2) Dante slowly realizes that the damned are in Hell for a reason. in the upper layers of Hell, it’s really easy to pity the damned. There’s good people who don’t really deserve to be in Hell, there’s tragic lovers and the aforementioned babies. But the further down one goes, the more difficult it becomes to sympathise with the damned. Dante slowly hardens his heart to their suffering, and at a couple points (hi, Ronald Reagan!) actually makes their situation worse.

And this is presented, in the world of the Divine Comedy, as a good thing. Virgil even tells him off a couple times for being too kind to the damned. Dante’s sympathy for sinners was, on some level, sympathy for evil, and he has to purge himself of that sympathy if he’s going to be worthy to go to heaven.

So okay I want to bring back the picture that I used to demonstrate my hateboner for this game:

Let’s count the ways this is wrong.

Ciacco should be grosser. No, really. As much as I rag on this game for being edgelord-y, the poem is probably worse. In the poem, he’s described as being gorged, bloated, and covered in flies and ... excrement. Here, he just looks like a generic zombieman. I get that on some level this is due to console limitations, but still, Inferno is famous for its disgusting imagery and if you’re gonna take it you need to go all out.

Dante knew this guy in life. Ciacco is one of the Real People Dante inserted into Inferno. In the actual poem, he gives Dante a prophecy about - you guessed it- Florentine politics, and sinks back into the mud. The neck grip is completely edgy and stupid.

OH BOY IT’S THE BIOSHOCK KILL/SPARE MECHANIC IN A CONTEXT WHERE IT’S THEMATICALLY AND THEOLOGICALLY DISSONANT, YEY! A lot of smarter people than me have spilled a lot of ink about the KILL/SPARE mechanic in Bioshock, so I won’t waste too much time on it- I think it’s okay in the context of Bioshock, but it’s clunky and crude and needed some mechanical refinement. It reinforces the main theme of Bioshock- will you be “individualist” and conform to what your society has always taught you, or will you help other people and pave your own way? But here? ...Dante is a sinner in Hell. and Dante’s Inferno!Dante is a much, much worse sinner than OG!Dante. He should not have this kind of power from God. Even Dante’s God only redeemed damned souls in hell once. (The Harrowing of Hell etc.) And since it’s so bluntly a ripoff of Kill Vs Spare... we know which one the “good” option is. It’s the option that intuitively makes sense to people who haven’t been huffing shitty theology. This completely goes against the themes of Inferno. It’s more morally sound and palatable to a 21st century audience, but it makes this game a terrible adaptation.

There’s also... the matter of Beatrice. Hoo boy. This is the thing that makes me hate this game the most.

SO. Dante’s Inferno has the standard Video Game Plot that has been standard at least since Donkey Kong. “Your GF has been kidnapped! Go save her from the $Bad_Guys!”

In Inferno and the Divine Comedy in general.... well... that’s not how things go, obviously. The historical Beatrice was another Real Person. She was Dante’s teenage crush- she was older than him, and while they only talked a couple times, he fell head over heels for her. Unfortunately, she died when they were still both very young. Dante was heartbroken and never really got over her, but he vowed to immortalize her in his poetry.

In the Divine Comedy, Beatrice becomes an angel- and, symbolically, the Love of God. She never shows up in Inferno, because there is no Love of God in hell, but she guides him through Purgatory and Paradise. 

...In a very real sense, in the Comedy, it’s Beatrice who saves Dante. Not the other way around. So it hacks me the fuck off - both in a “feminist” way and a “Dante is rolling in his grave” way- that she’s reduced to the Sexy Lamp Objective of the Hero Quest. Y’know?

[chromeskiesstuff]

The Killing of Three Thousand Crows Recap EP 1 三千鸦杀

This drama has been a huge blast - I am 8 EPs in and the plot, characters are wonderful and refreshing. The main leads are a hoot themselves, being very hilarious and have their own unique personalities. Props to CGI and costume theme who does their best to make it realistic while in budget, in particularly the costumes feel so natural and pretty.

So just a brief introduction:

This is a Xianxia adaptation from novel of the same name. Xianxia = it involves immortals. Our heroine, Yan Yan, or with her adult/real name Qin Chuan (覃川) is a mortal princess of her country and it has been destroyed by the demon people. Her people are slain and she vowed to kill off each and every demon people to bring peace to her people.

The Male Lead is Jiu Yun (九云), a powerful young immortal who has a crush on her, and he has seen through her ten lives/ previous reincarnation.

We started off with our male lead, Jiu Yun and his friend. His friend ponders why he is sharing with him a drawing by his Shifu/Master and what is it about.

He replied that this was about a war where drums are beating, and bones anre piling up. He also said he didn’t understand the meaning of the drawing for thousand years.

The cinematography is pretty amazing and the narration done by Zhen Ye Cheng (yes our Male lead does his own dubbing along with Zhao Luo Si) is nothing short of haunting. The sequence is written in a semi-classical format, and its a thing of beauty when it combines with great cinematography, great colour combinations, great symbolism (eg drums that reinvigorate a dying party) , great prose and great narration. Look at her red robes flowing in harsh winter while hitting the drums. Maybe I should translate this part later :D

His friend retorted. “It’s normal for mortals to be in war”. He replied "I finally met her yesterday. I have been searching for her for a thousand years” while the screen switch to her facing her enemies alone. 

I presume she didn’t survive. Based on some notes on the novel this was her past life. Anyway I really dig these prologues as of late as its normally shot wonderfully and in a simplistic manner + introduce the whole thing.

The scene switched to an enormous paper bird flying down to a city.

I love the design of the paper bird. Its delicate. Can I have one for a Mercedes?

Our heroine slept at class, slacking off  from learning paper folding spells which is a secret skill of Dali royalty. He also scold her that she have already learn for a year but she knew nothing.Her Shifu challenges her to make ten paper crane. 

She could fight with Bai Qian with tardiness though what Bai Qian did is even more crayy

She defended herself that paper folding spells emphasize on making it freely/casually. Under her shifu threat, she back off, saying she can do it anyway, but instead she made a frog.

The sequence is amazing btw. The CGI is really on point here :D

The paper container too is delightfully designed. Along with the sunscreen panels at the background

The set design and the headdress. Its amazing. Look at the Peach blossom background :D. And I enjoyed her acting a lot. She displays the right amount of mischievousness here :D

Our princess met with her brother and to cheer her up,  her brother shows her a painting he obtained. She said the painting is fine but not worth two to three thousand coins. 

Yeap. It looks like regular drawing even from my POV. But I hope whoever drawing this is not offended T_T (based on TMOPB the artist will normally on set whenever their artwork is shown)

He asks her to look at it carefully. Soon the garden turns into winter, and winter plum blossom starts blooming, and sometime later it turns back to normal. She excitedly asks him where he obtains the painting. He told her he obtained it from the famed painter, Gongzi Qi (公子齐).

Cue hilarity ensured of Gongzi Qi being synonymous with celebrity, full-on with fans dying to have his artwork and to see him,  and her brother the prince being very excited to obtain one. While looking for the artist, a scroll appears on his hand and he looks both happy and confused.

Here’s how he describes Gongzi Qi:

Gongzi Qi, he was rumoured to be extremely handsome, with one of the kind drawing skills. He was rumoured to apply rare immortal spells to his artwork.

She muses that man is too proud. And if Gonzi Qi said his art skills are his second-best skill, then his music skills should be out of the world. Her brother said he wrote a song titled East Wind Peach Blossom Flower .. nope it's half a song not a full song (WTF XD) and he refuses to write the other half, saying that no dancer will be able to dance this song (I see you Gongzi Qi, you are tempting her). Indeed our princess is up to the challenge and asks her brother to request him to finish the song so she can dance to it.

The siblings then visit their cousin, where her brother advises her not to be rude. Apparently their aunt and cousin are attending their mom’s 40th birthday celebration.

After greetings and praises, the two women throwing barbs at each other, we know that Xuan Zhu (玄珠，the cousin) recently start to learn immortal skills under a mysterious teacher. Their barbs become a quarrel, causing their companions to try to rein them in. Yan Yan excuses herself. The quarrel continues as both are tugging a purple handkerchief. 

A man came in. Yan Yan seems to be jealous that this guy (Zuo Zi Chen, 左紫辰) seems to come here to visit Xuan Zhu. He clarifies that he is here on behalf of his father to see her cousins. She instantly brightens up and let him go. 

OK, first crush? And guy seems to be interested.

At the court, the King seems to be really worried about Tian Yuan, as they have usurped three countries around Dali. He is also worried as his prime minister Zuo (Zi Chen dad) applies for retirement at this time due to health. He announces that he will pay a visit to Prime Minister Zuo.

Our Prime Minister seems quite healthy (healthier than the king!!) and performs some ritual that's clearly demonic.

This is performed in front of a satan like figure. That's demonic even in Taoist book right?

Our prince got the sheet music, but with a bet from Gongzi Qi: She must be able to perform it, else he will make her a laughing stock. While visiting the prime minister, she took the opportunity to visit Zi Chen. She blocks him from visiting the king. Instead, she wants him to ask him something on the new music sheet she obtained since he is extremely good with music.

uwuuw the music sheets are so pretty

Zi Chen was amazed since he never saw such complicated tunes. There is a catch though. The verse she pointed out is rather bloody and will cause the audience and the performer to feel very sad, totally inappropriate for a birthday celebration. He answers the way to go is to change the tunes from a sad tone to a happy one.

Girl is clearly enamored with him and his skills. He turned around and ask whether his modified tunes sounds right. She thinks it's great. And she gifted him a hairpin, helping him to wear the new hairpin. She finishes pining the hairpin and touches his face. He reciprocates by grabbing her hand tenderly

OMG I must say this scene is so well done. Very tender, and little words need to be said.

After she left, his father looks for him. He looks anything but friendly. He asks whether he knew the reason the king came. Oh gosh, the prince is way too naive. His father is clearly plotting about something. But he is a young man in the midst of meeting his first love, maybe that's why he didn't catch on the shenanigans.

The Princess is totally unaware of the plot tho, she happily shares her joy with her maid, Aman and hoping for the day Zi Chen will marry her. She also declares that she will be able to conquer the tough music sheets and it will prove Zi Chen's musicality is superior to Gongzi Qi. 

At night Gongzi Qi visited her, leaving her a note. She wakes up and declared again that she will win their bet. Gongzi Qi hears her in the court garden and leaves with a smile.

It seems like the budget is spent on the prince wardrobe. His gear looks very natural and menacing ha. But the candles deco is totally inferior to TMOPB Ye Hua house. Maybe the Demon People are saving the $ for war?

Yan Yan dance is stellar, she interprets the music sheets beautifully, with peach blossoms,snow and leaves. The audience including her brother, Zi Chen, and Gongzi Qi are amazed.

Oh wow the music is wonderful. It reminds me of TMOPB EP30 Peach blossom scene OST - the warm and sweet feel kinda touch. And the dance is shot beautifully. Although I think some of the dance moves are done by a professional dancer? Not a problem imo since one of the most beautiful performances in cdrama history is choreographed by a dancer.

And YESSSS.... his wardrobe is really on point here and the angles the cinematographer take is really good. He is not your conventionally attractive lead so I understand that some angles will not stand out. Kudos to the production team!

The dance ended and Gongzi Qi was shocked that she changed the ending of his sheet music. HA, SO YOU KNOW SHE IS GONNA PERFORM AT HER MUM’S BIRTHDAY BASH PARTY AND YOU WRITE HER A BLOODY TUNE? lmao he is pissed and serves him right XD. And what's wrong with your bestie XD? He seems to have a tendency to pine after a married woman.

They met Shifu who seems to be their ShiXiong (Elder brother disciple). Shifu reminded Gonzi Qi that since he is an immortal, he shouldn’t involve with mortal matters especially when Yan Yan is still very young. Gongzi Qi asks if he insists on doing it? Shifu replied that her fate has been decided and he shouldn’t go against fate. He seems to accept that decree and he hands over a huge scroll of painting, requesting Shifu to pass it to her.

Note: The reason why Shifu is able to involve is that he owes a debt to the Dali Royal family per the book.

At night the city is being attacked, and Yan Yan wakes up feeling happy and refreshed. She saw the painting scroll, both her and her maid marvelled at the painting and she told her maid that she wants to go outside alone to visit Zi Chan.

Meanwhile, Zi Chan father sent his son away “ For praying in the temple. Do request for glory at Royal Court”. His son wonders as his dad will not need it because he is retiring. His dad replies smoothly that it’s for Zi Chan. Zi Chan wanted to pray for his father’s health, and his father praised him lightly, sending him away. Looks like he is sending him away for safety. 

COMMENTS

I have been waiting for this drama for some time, and luckily they are no longer stuck in broadcasting hell. This EP has a lot to unpack, introducing the background and characters. I feel this EP wonderfully introduces multiple characters while making Yan Yan and Zi Chan characters unique. Yan Yan character is sweet while slightly spoiled, she is still very charming herself, and have all the characteristics of a well-loved high born lady. Zi Chan too stands out as the highly ranked son, with his politeness and his crush with Yan Yan being really subtle. Plot-wise it is interesting and hopefully, the revenge plot won’t be too over the top later. The drama is also not afraid to insert some modern jokes (AHEM CELEBRITY ARTIST) while feeling super natural in doing so.

 The magic spells they introduce are fairly unique too (paper magic) which can be quite handy. The brief introduction of paper cranes and paper frogs are delightful. The costumes are delightful too. One of the difficulties of cdrama production is making costumes natural relative to the period and making it beautiful. I love Zi Chan wardrobe here because he looks great in it while not making him too prince-like. Likewise I like that Gongzi Qi wardrobe are slightly more fancier than a normal immortal /Taoist disciple (YEAH HIS WEIRDASS WAYS) but not that fancy.

I think one of the downsides for this drama is the set production. Some of the sets like the snow scene are totally beautiful, while at some parts its so obvious the wood is made of plastic, or the garden looks too tropical. That being said I understand cdrama fantasy budgets are tight + high likelihood of delayed broadcasting, so these downsides are relatively minor, plus the cinematography team is killing it, so I think in overall any fan of xianxia should watch it.

[tiny-smallest]

6. Illusion For that micro-story challenge if you still want to take those

So you ALSO get two micro stories from two different fandoms (and with vastly different tones, too) but sadly one will mean VERY little to you oops. I’m sorry about that. I’m also sorry this took like three weeks.

Like last time, watch as I try to avoid using the actual prompt word.

–

The more time that passed, the more Sammy had to consider that Joey truly had zero idea what he was doing.

Boards weren’t finished on time anymore. Writers didn’t get directions. Backgrounds stalled. Hallways flooded. Sammy threw out the second pair of shoes in a month. Fuming about it to Joey over dinner earned him nothing more than a handwave and a loud proclamation of “It’ll be fine, Sammy! You’re just not seeing the big picture! It’ll all work out and we’ll be remembered in history for all time! I thought that’s what you wanted?”

Well yeah, it was, but how was Joey going to accomplish that if the cartoon itself wasn’t being produced? He pointed that out, words barbed, and Joey turned red and snapped back that it wasn’t as if he was getting his songs done on time, either.

“Well maybe if you did something about my department being flooded-!”

“Fine, I will.”

Four days later Sammy found an ugly pump switch installed in his office, and periodically from then on people would be in and out, ensuring that spills were drained from the music department. He clenched his jaw so hard his teeth ached. The toons sat grouped around him in silence, and he took a deep breath through his nose and pushed it all down, quietly handing Bendy more fresh paper to draw on before returning to his music.

He spotted Norman, Wally, and Allison all in rapid succession bringing their concerns to Joey over the course of the next three days, and each time Joey was all smiles, all big ideas. He addressed the studio over the loudspeaker the day after Allison.

“A small memo to all administration offices: Rumors have begun to fly that we simply can’t tolerate any longer. The idea that the company is in some form of financial difficulty is untrue! And a slanderous lie against us.”

His voice was so… loud and big, in a way that was beyond just volume. There was something powerful in that voice, something that commanded attention, without needing to be angry to do it. Sammy didn’t know how to do that. Maybe Joey would take him more seriously if he did.

He set aside his pen to stare up and over at the loudspeaker outside his office, unable to tune Joey out.

“It’s also been known to me that some backroom incompetents are not trusting in my leadership.” He didn’t need to be able to see Joey to visualize him pacing the room, finger in the air as he talked. “As a leader, I’m always steering the boat, guiding our destiny. Looking at the big picture. No need for you people to worry about such complicated things. Just do whatever it is you do and trust your leader… which is me.”

The loudspeaker clicked off.

Sammy’s eyes slid to exchange looks with someone who wasn’t there anymore and hadn’t been for years, someone who really did get shit done, someone who really did always steer that boat, and his chest tightened.

How was Joey able to get so many people to listen to him? How did he suck so many people in? Why did Sammy, every single time, believe Joey could do this?

The door opened. “Sammy?” Boris called softly, ears going back. “Are…?”

Sammy sat up straight, giving Boris a slow nod, hoping his face looked at least some modicum of gentle. “It’s okay. Come in.”

They sat and composed together. Sammy actually got his songs done. He turned them in. Joey paused, looked up from his theme park plans, and gave Sammy a smile reminiscent of the sun.

“Good work, Sammy! You must have worked so hard to get these finished so fast! Well done!” He clapped Sammy on the back, and Sammy let out a quiet chuckle, rolling his eyes. “No, I mean it!” Joey insisted. “You make this look so easy, and that’s just what we need right now. This’ll bolster a lot of people. The studio family really needs this right now.”

“Yeah, well. You did hire me to write music,” Sammy pointed out with a snort, hoping his face wasn’t actually as hot as it felt.

“That I did, ‘cause there’s really no one better.” Joey beamed at him. “Now, let’s sit down and discuss the next batch of episodes, huh?”

It mostly consisted of a lot of vague concepts. Joey couldn’t tell him what the story for the fifth one even was. Sammy’s brows drew together as he suggested a few things here and there, and Joey made alterations.

As he left the office Joey smiled at him again. That was, what, four times in one day? Sammy couldn’t look away as Joey patted his back again. “Good meeting today, Sammy. I’ll see you around! Time to get back to work, now!”

Back to work. His pounding headache, begging sleep, grew louder. He pushed it down, went to the break room, and poured himself coffee. Returned to his office. It would be fine. He just had to get this pile of work done.

Seven hours later, there was another flood, and he threw out the third pair of shoes in a month.

Sammy bought galoshes, poured himself another mug of coffee, and bit his tongue.

–

His fingers slipped on the neck of the guitar, a tangle of squeaky, off-notes marring the song. He blinked against heavy eyelids, confused for all of two seconds before realizing the off-key music had come from him.

A soft, low chuckle sounded from above him, and a large, soft hand enveloped his shoulder. “I think you’re done for the night, dear.”

Greg lifted his head to lay it against his wife’s lap with a quiet laugh. She kissed his forehead. “Yeah, probably. I was on a roll though, I swear.”

“Needing sleep is a curse,” she agreed to his unspoken, mild complaint with a grin, “but sadly it’s one you need to live. Come on, bed.”

“All right, all right.” He patted her cheek before sitting up, standing up to stretch and pop his back and put his guitar away. The water nearby lapped gently at the shore as she got out of the van, pulling the mattress in it from the wall to lie flat as he stored his guitar on the passenger seat.

She laid down on her back and he curled up half against her side, half on her chest, closing his eyes with a sigh. “Goodnight, Rose.”

She stroked her fingers through his hair, smoothing it back. “Goodnight, Greg.”

ba-dum

His eyes snapped open, freezing.

ba-dum

What-

ba-dum

“Rose what-” He lifted his head to look at her, able to see even in the starlight the deep blush flooding her cheeks.

“Do… do you like it?” she asked, voice soft, nervous.

“W-well- yes but…?”

“Oh well- I heard some girls talking on the boardwalk? About how, um, humans like to listen to each other’s heartbeat? They find it soothing?” She tapped her forefingers together. “And, well- gems don’t have a pulse naturally but we can shapeshift and I don’t have to create a whole blood system to mimic a heartbeat and I thought- it might make you happy?”

Her dark eyes met his, large and uncertain and hopeful. “D-did it?”

“Oh Rose,” he breathed, heart bursting. He leaned over to press a kiss to her mouth.

His wife was the one with gravity powers, but every once in awhile, he felt like he could just float away into the sky and take her with him.

[tisfan]

Tentacle-tober Prompts

A/N - so I may have over committed for October. I do that sometimes. Anyway, I’m like five days behind on these, and I’m going to just finish them off as I get to it. This is prompt # 18 Tentacles in Space and a continuation of https://tisfan.tumblr.com/post/188197264098/tentacle-tober-prompt-7 this StarkLord piece (Tony Stark/Peter Quill)

All the story is under the cut for being Very Naughty. (tentacle oral sex and bondage and nipple play)

To be continued, obv. 

Note: Centauri are a Babylon 5 race that I borrowed. They do indeed, have six. It’s mentioned in the show (and even shown once or twice)

Yondu may or may not have a bifurcated dick. I don’t know that the canon is, but I’ve seen a LOT of art with him and Kraglin on that theme.

“So, we’ll just get it attuned to you,” Peter said, holding up the X’toy. “This… this should be bigger.” He shook it a few times, like he might rattle of dying flashlight to align the batteries better, and the X’toy responded by making a soft chirp, and then the center phallus went from a slightly underendowed, purple blob that looked more like a plug than anything else, grew at least four inches, turned brilliant pink, shiny, and shaped like a penis.

“You can switch it up?”

“Sure,” Peter said. He shook it again and got something bifurcated, with a thick ridge and-- were those barbs? “You want to do it A'askavariian-style?”

“Uuuuh?”

Peter switched it up again, and ended with an over-under double-dick in a light shade of blue. “Or Centarian?” 

“Wait, Yondu was Centarian,” Tony protested.

“Uh, yeah?”

“They have two dicks?”

“Come on man, Centauri have six, so--”

Tony’s head spun a little. “That’s unnerving.” And a little disturbing, although Tony couldn’t decide if it was disturbing in itself, or it was disturbing because maybe that was something he’d like to try--

“Centauri ladies have six-- well, it’s complicated.”

“So I’m given to understand,” Tony said. “Let’s try just normal sex, first time?”

“Normal has a lot more definitions out here in space, Tony,” Peter said, smirking.

“Human-style. Earth normal,” Tony clarified, throwing a pillow at Peter.

Peter shook it again, and it returned to mostly normal, if at least two inches longer than the longest dick Tony had ever been fucked with. “This better?”

“Yes,” Tony said, and his insides quivered with anticipation. “So, you just-- what, want me to strip.”

“No, not yet. We have to attune it to you,” Peter said. “Sit here, get comfy, think sexy thoughts. I’ll let it get to know you.”

“Uh, okay,” Tony said. “What-- is there a safe word in this situation?”

“Not exactly,” Peter said. “I wouldn’t advise using it without a partner, at least.”

“That sounds dubious,” Tony commented.

“Yeah, well, it’s, you know, empathic? A little. It won’t turn off until you want it to,” Peter said. “You can literally be fucked to death. Die of dehydration, you know? Or you have to have really, really good control over your thoughts.”

“How do you know all this?” Tony asked.

“Uh, I…” and Peter blushed, which Tony didn’t think Peter could do, “kinda rented myself out for a few months. I needed repairs on the Milano, and--”

“You sold yourself into sex slavery?” Tony’s voice went up a few registers.

“I rented… myself into sex slavery. What can I say, the price was amazing,” Peter said. “And there were some side benefits.”

“Is that where your endurance came from?”

“You could consider it training for the sex olympics, yeah?”

“Anyway, this one’s got a safety feature on it,” Peter said, “which is not quite like a safeword, but-- hehe, butt -- uh, after about half a rotation, it’ll shut down. Just, don’t be on like, one of those planets with a two hundred hour long day. Otherwise, I can take it off you, with a little bit of effort. My thoughts-- totally controlled.”

Tony snorted. “Forgive me if I’m not sure I believe you. I’ve experienced your dirty mind in action, Quill. And you do like to watch.”

“We’ll be fine. We’re in orbit around Baysol III anyway, and its standard rotation is 8 hours, so the worst case scenario, you get four hours. You can handle four hours, I have faith in you, Stark.”

Tony pretended that he was considering it for, oh, all about three seconds. “Okay, then, let’s see what-- an atuning feels like.”

Peter grinned. “Relax. Think sexy thoughts--”

He placed the X’toy on Tony’s knee, and for a long moment, it just lay there, like any other silicone sex toy would, if someone just put it down. No vibrations, no wiggling, no nothing. Just a dildo flower laying on Tony’s--

It moved, and some of the tendrils formed almost-- legs. Crawling up Tony’s thigh. Tony sucked in a breath, flinching away from it, the way all sane people would when something with a dozen legs was climbing up your body.

“Is that thing… clean?”

“I mighta washed it, last time I used it,” Peter said.

The X’toy hooked tendrils over Tony’s shoulders, prodded at his mouth with the bulbous end of the central dick. Tony wrenched his head to one side. 

“Quill, you complete asshole, if this is some kind of sick joke--” 

The X’toy pushed itself between his lips as he panicked. 

“It’s okay, Tony,” Peter said. “It’s completely sanitary. And it’s not going to hurt you, just--”

The central dick pushed into his mouth, an inch, maybe more. Tony pushed at it with his tongue, involuntarily trying to get it out. It tasted…

Incredible.

Like every single one of his favorite foods, liquor, cigar smoke, everything he’d ever enjoyed in his mouth.

A tendril slid over his ear, another one behind his neck. Two of them slipped down his shirt and hooked under his arms. Even more slithered down his body until it had his wrists, cuffed by coils of alien sex toy. 

The central cock pushed in even further, into his mouth, stretching his jaw. More tendrils, small, delicate ones, teased at his lips, tickling and tingling. Tentacles around his head pulled the X’toy even closer to him, until it was like one of those alien parasites from the Sigorney Weaver film, but fucking his throat instead of planting anything inside him.

He hoped.

“Look at you,” Peter said, admiringly. 

Tony lifted one hand to flip Peter off, and that might have been a mistake, because the X’toy tugged and pulled until Tony’s wrists were linked together behind his back, and then went up to thread in his hair, yanking his head back.

Still, the X’toy plundered his mouth, tasting perfect, but--

Tony thought this was supposed to be sexy, but he wasn’t sure that it was. It was weird, and it was a little hard to breathe, and Peter certainly seemed to be enjoying it, watching Tony’s cheeks bulge and his throat work, and the way he was captive in the chair. He couldn’t do anything about it now if he wanted to, the way it had his hands pinned, the way it was wrapped around his neck.

Panic touched him again, and then--

Well, Tony always was a little bent.

Even after everything that happened, he liked-- loved, really -- being helpless during sex. Being forced to stay still and just enjoy it. Tony had trouble relaxing during sex, he always wanted to be the one giving pleasure, he knew how to do that, he loved being praised, he loved all the wonderful little noises that people made. But when it came to his own wants and desires, he tended to shove them off, considered them unimportant, or a side effect, or--

The X’toy sent more tendrils down his body, touching him, probing at his chest, tickling over his ribs, flicked one nipple and when that got a slightly deeper sigh and Tony moving into the touch, it zeroed in on that spot, plucking, teasing, rubbing, coiling around and around. Another tendril, this one soft, wet, flat, brushed over his other nipple like a tongue, and Tony out and out groaned, heat rising in his belly.

“There you go,” Peter said. “It has to find out what you like. And-- look at you, you like being tied up, don’t you? Why didn’t I know that?”

Tony couldn’t respond, of course, but he rolled his eyes.

Peter just laughed.

“Don’t worry,” Peter said. “It’s gonna find everything that you like. Everything you were ever interested in, and everything you never told anyone.”

The central dick thrust deeper into his mouth, and Tony stopped fighting it, letting his eyes drift shut, knowing that Peter liked to watch, knowing that he was watching. A tendril wrapped around his throat, squeezing just enough to feel it, so he could tell each time the central dick thrust into his throat, feeling it on both sides.

The ones on his chest flicked his nipples, sending jolts of heat into his stomach, up his nerves, until he had his back arched so much it was almost painful. His hips thrust involuntarily, seeking friction that he wasn’t getting.

“Awww,” Peter said. “You want some attention here, baby?” Peter’s hand teased up his thigh, and Tony spread his legs to give him access, but he didn’t take it, the bastard, just traced up Tony’s leg, and down again.

The little hair-like tendrils around the base of the central cock continued to explore Tony’s mouth, little zings of sensation over stretched lips. His tongue was tingling. A tendril, wet like a tongue, but narrow, slid into his ear, and for just a moment, Tony tensed again. It pulsed over the sensitive skin of his earlobe, and then-- how did it have teeth? -- it bit the shell, hot air going into Tony’s ear canal, and Tony absolutely melted.

One tendril slid down his belly, a tickling, teasing line that made Tony squirm with anticipation, his dick throbbing hot and hard behind his zipper. Come on, come on--

He groaned, and the central dick pushed, thrusting in, swelling inside Tony’s mouth until his jaw ached, his tongue was pressed down in the bottom of his mouth, he almost couldn’t breathe at all, his eyes were watering with the effort--

Something--

Something squirted into his mouth, like cherry juice and lime, like the finest wine--

And then-- he was on fire, needing it so bad, wanting to be fucked and filled, and to come and to cry out--

The whole X’toy retracted back into its starting, flower-bud shape, laying in Tony’s lap, over his aching dick, while he panted for breath.

“Holy shit--”

“Yeah,” Peter said. “It’s learning you, and you’re… uh, got a dose of the go-juice.”

“It kinda came down my throat,” Tony pointed out. He squirmed, stretching his arms a little, trying to alleviate the pressure of his untouched cock. 

“You gonna go something about this?” Tony demanded, gesturing to his groin.

“No, not yet,” Peter said. “Give it like five minutes--”

“Five--” He didn’t want to wait five minutes, he wanted to be fucked now.

“Use the time wisely, starshine,” Peter suggested. “Take your clothes off an’ hop up onto the bunk. We’ll get you all ready for the fun part.” 

[someraesofsun]

And Play Some Video Games

Pairing: Miles/Geoff

Rating: T for some sexual language

Word count: 1998

Summary: When Kyle’s out sick, Miles brings on a guest for Backwardz Compatible. His dumb and very nosy boyfriend. Hijinks ensue. I originally started writing this for @just-a-fandom-mess​ but I liked it well enough to share. 

 It sounded like chaos in the animation department. Night fell on Austin, all had gone home for the night but two. Miles needed to push out a few recordings for a new Backwardz Compatible, and with Kyle sick with the flu, he needed backup. His backup came in the form of the biggest coward he'd ever met. Playing any horror video game with Geoff made Miles truly question why he slept with this man. As if he wasn't screaming just as much as the other man. The empty, darkened department was filled with their quick-fire conversations and bursts of shouting.

“Okay, so I’m- I’m gonna need you to stop, give me the controller, stop walking backwards into the rooms.” “Stop trying to take the controller, Miles, stop it!” “Just-just rip the bandaid off and let the fucking jumpscare happen, what are you do-GEOFF! LOOK OUT!” “A-AAH! Why are you scream- AHH, OH FUCKING CHRIST! Ohhhh no. Oh god, why, what the fuck...” “God you’re the worst person to play scary games with. She's dead again, great! You killed the dumb bitch again! Give me that!”

Miles swiped the controller from Geoff, as grumpy as he sounded, he was laughing. He laughed so hard, his ribs began to feel tough. So maybe, just maybe, he didn't miss Kyle as much as he let on. If anyone was a kick to play games with, it was Geoff. Playing scary games with your boyfriend was always a good idea, even if he was a total wimp. Miles reset the level, shooting Geoff a look which was returned with a goofy smile. “l hate you. So much.” the corners of his mouth betrayed him as the moved up into a smile. In order to hide this traitorous act by his body itself, Miles looked back towards the computer screen.

“You love me!” Geoff teased, and where the facecams couldn't see, his hand slipped under the desk to place itself on Miles’ thigh, giving it a light squeeze that sent an electric shock down his spine. They were relatively public about their relationship with the other workers and their fans, but they still kept physical contact at a minimum. Nothing would scare away their insecure male demographic faster than two men kissing for more than just a funny joke.

Unfortunately, Geoff knew nothing of boundaries or of the ideas of keeping happy a loathed but necessary source of viewership. While Miles breezed through the everything Geoff fucked up, he felt the gaze of a man ready to rile up some angry fanboys.

“So Miles,” Geoff began, blue eyes burning holes into the side of Miles’ head. He had a smirk playing at his lips, it was a lot of work, not elbowing him right in the mouth to get him to stop looking at Miles like this. “I've seen this show before, of course. Not as good as anything I make, but pretty alright.”

“Way to really sell paywalled content, not as good as the free stuff. But okay!” Miles tore his eyes from the screen to side glance Geoff. “But continue.”

“Well, I know that a theme for the show is Kyle always trying to get you to reveal dirty shit for the audience.” Geoff smiled innocently, leaning in just enough so that Miles felt his breath on his shoulder. “Seeing as I'm replacement Kyle-”

“And right here, I believe, is where I start regretting asking you to come on!” Miles spoke higher than usual, leaning forward to escape that hot breath warming the fabric of his shirt, that strange and almost overwhelming feeling.

“I'm just being the best replacement Kyle I can be!” Geoff laughed, pinching Miles’ cheek. “As your boyfriend, I demand I know all your dirty secrets.”

“But Geoff. Geoff Ramsey, man I love, let's just consider the camera that is rolling. The footage that we're sharing with a… whole fucking lot of people!” Miles let out an uneasy laugh, only to get another squeeze on the thigh. Geoff was playing with him. The game felt like cat and mouse. It was Geoff's goal to trap him into revealing personal stuff on this show. Maybe they could bleep it out later…

“Aw, like you haven't been on Barb's sex slow three times now. And that's a free show! This is just between us and whoever actually watches this.” God dammit, he had a point.

“Backwardz Compatible gets plenty of viewers, Geoff!” Miles gritted his teeth and tried to keep his focus on the game. Geoff, always there to push his buttons a little. Not maliciously, all in good fun. Miles wished he'd get his dumb personal questions out of the way already.

“Did I really hit a nerve, there? Miles, I'm just joking around, anything you touch takes off. You don't need me to tell you that.” Geoff frowned and leaned forward, planting a kiss on Miles’ cheek. This both melted his heart and frustrated him to no end. “I'm sooooorryyyy.”

Why did he have to be the cute, endearing kind of asshole?

“...You're alright. Jerk. Ask your stupid questions, replacement Kyle.” He had to lighten the mood and fast. At least some of this footage had to be useful. He couldn't help but feel like the game was no longer the scariest thing happening to him right now.

“Right! I have plenty!” Geoff sat up, the wicked grin on his face back. “Like… Am I the only guy you've ever actually been with?”

“Well…” Miles broke out into a cold sweat, oh no, he'd have to choose his words carefully, here. He might have been out, but… “No. But you are the first serious relationship.”

“Oh my god, does that mean you've had strictly fucking relationships? Miles, the one who went on a rant about friends with benefits! I don't believe this!” The sick amount of joy in Geoff's voice could have brought tears to Miles’ eyes.

“That's not what I said! We weren't strictly fucking, Jesus. We didn't… that. That did not happen!” Not like Miles didn't want to, but things were a little too complicated to get even more messy. “We tried things out, went on a couple dates, and decided that while we were into… you know, it wouldn't work out with us specifically.”

He prayed Kyle wouldn't watch this one.

Oh god Kyle, don't watch this one.

“Lame! I wanted some dirty stories, not bittersweet ones.” He hummed in thought for a second before grinning again. “Am I the first dude you fucked?”

“Holy fucking shit, you went right into, Geoff. Cool. Great.” Miles sighed and paused the game. Then he dropped his controller, leaning back in his seat. “...No. You aren't.”

The look of surprise and joy on Geoff's face was a little priceless. And Miles realized, resignation in his heart, that this topic was not going to be dropped anytime soon. He turned back to the camera. “So, I guess this is the point in the video where Geoff's one goal is to get tumblr to like me again. So if you're actually here for gameplay and not to hear about my sex life, we'll, uh, give you the time you should skip to. Or you can just keep watching, if you hate yourself.”

“Excuse you, Miles, but I'm giving tumblr everything they want tonight.” Geoff looked like a reporter ready to expose a government secret on national television. Lunagate with Geoffrey Frost. “So we're going to start with the fucking-”

“Something we're not doing after this.” Miles interjected with a laugh. “I have slept with… someone. Nobody here.”

“Are you sure, because as soon as you admitted that, I thought Kerry.” Geoff couldn't contain his excitement. Miles was kind of surprised. It wasn't the norm, for your partner to actually want to hear about your past sex life. But here was Geoff, giddy and ready to listen to Miles and his dirty laundry. Maybe Geoff didn't see it as dirty. Maybe that was kind of a good thing.

“No! Not Kerry! No no, it was a hookup. Completely random. Met a guy at a bar. I see the look and yes, it was a gay bar.” Okay, so maybe this was becoming a little fun. Maybe he was laughing at the exaggerated reactions. “God, you’re the worst.”

“I never said you couldn’t ask me equally invasive questions and I am more than willing to answer anything you throw at me.” Geoff grinned smugly. Because of course he was more than comfortable with talking sex. Of course he wanted to brag a little.

This had Miles interested. Well, if he wasn’t the only person embarrassing himself tonight, suddenly this game was a lot more fun! He raised an eyebrow, intrigued. “Well then… what about you? Am I your first fuck of the male persuasion?”

“You bet your ass you are.” If anything was going to throw Miles off, it was that.

There was just no fucking way.

There was no way that Geoff hadn’t been with another guy at one point. Was he really all that new to this? It didn’t make any sense to Miles, he was so much better at it than Miles ever was! He was so comfortable with it, too. It took Miles a bit to get used to the little gifts on his desk, the public moments like holding hands and sharing quick kisses around the office. He still crinkled his nose at ‘babe’ and ‘sweetheart’ and small gestures because he just wasn’t used to it yet. But for Geoff, it was all natural, not once did he seem to even care about who might be watching. Miles couldn’t believe for a second that he was Geoff’s first. “Am I… also the first guy you dated.”

“Yup.”

Okay now what the fuck was going on here, exactly? Miles squinted. “No fucking way.”

Geoff barked out a laugh, shrugging. Like this wasn’t the biggest revelation Miles had heard their entire relationship. “No fucking way! Are you serious? Geoff, you can’t possibly be serious right now.”

“Listen, I’m not into the club scene, I work a lot, I’m a fairly introverted guy! Girls are also easier to get. There’s more girls than gays. It’s not that big a deal, not like I’m already into both anyway or something.” He was so relaxed.

Miles was so shocked and wound up. Conversely.

“But you’re…”

“I swear to god if you say old-”

“Comfortable! You’re so relaxed about it.”

“Well, maybe you just relax me, Miles.” Geoff smiled genuinely and Miles felt his body melt. He didn’t expect that, either. “Maybe I’m just comfortable with it because I’m comfortable with you. And it’s alright if you’re not fully comfortable with it yet, really, I still know you like me. In time, you might calm the fuck down, too. Or you might never, and that’s alright too, because it’s pretty cute, how surprised every kiss still makes you. I’d be alright with that kinda cute forever.”

What a confession. It was no secret Miles was still getting used to all this. Actually, it was nice to hear that Geoff didn’t mind so much. Not only that, but he was surprised that he relaxed Geoff! Or that he was making such declarations in front of… oh. Oh the camera. He didn’t know how long he stared at Geoff, but he became acutely aware of the camera and glanced at it. Shit. Fuck.

“We’re cutting that out. All of that. By the way. If you genuinely thought that was going to stay in there, you’re out of your mind.” Miles leaned in and gave Geoff a kiss, picking up his controller and going back to the game. “OOOOOOO-KAY, well that was a conversation, Geoff, wasn’t it!”

“Ha, sure was, buddy.” Geoff, understanding completely that he had no chance of even fighting the edit-out, went back to dumb commentary while occasionally squeezing Miles’ thigh under the table. He was alright with that. He was very relaxed.

[vrheadsets]

VR vs. Nostradamus (2018 Edition) – Part Three

Okay, here we are. Part three and just in the nick of time before we all phase out of January and into February. It’s also rather close to me disappearing by way of a week off around my birthday so let’s get these underway, shall we? As with some of the ones before some or potentially all of these are connected in some way – but this time not with an overall theme. More than one could, in theory lead in to another and another after that. In one case it deliberately does. It’s time to get back to the more familiar names in virtual reality (VR) starting with one prediction that I kind of had last year too.

Before we do though, can I just say my thanks to Sony Interactive Entertainment (SIE) who kindly waited until I’d got my VR vs. article including predictions about them and new motion controller technology out before patents about such were found? You can both learn from this Nintendo and Magic Leap!

9) Oculus’ Progress Entirely Undone Within Weeks

I have a work in progress theory about Oculus. Either the place is built on an ancient Indian burial ground or Zuckerberg broke into the Ancient Egyptian tomb of the lost Pharaoh Tech-man-khamun or something when he was younger and has be cursed in a particularly odd manner. As I’ve said before on this series, sometimes it seems that no matter what Oculus does they can’t do good for doing bad, often getting what I at least consider to be the rough end of the stick when it comes to how things pan out.

If they announce X, their rivals will reveal X+ (and probably be cheaper than X just to rub it in), it’s just the way it is. Something always turns up to spoil their day… and there hasn’t been anything yet to do so from their Oculus Connect 4 announcements.  In fact, in a refreshing change of pace, everything seems to be going quite smoothly for the company as it moves towards the release of its two standalone head mounted displays (HMDs) – the Oculus Go and the Santa Cruz.

Now, to be clear I hardly want this to happen, but I am betting on their own tendency for misfortune to follow them that some factor comes along that ruins their party.  As to what this is, I’m not sure. Originally I had this written down as ‘entirely undone by Vive’ and even that it was Oculus’ ‘announcement karma’ but I’m still not entirely comfortable with the wording. Will it be Vive? Will it be someone from Oculus or Facebook’s side that causes a kerfuffle à la Palmer? Or will everything be fine and Oculus continue their good progress without getting set back? We’ll see, won’t we.

10) ZeniMax Reveals Own HMD

Okay let’s get into the juicy bit.

We’re due, and soon I’d wager, the next chapter in the saga that is ZeniMax versus Oculus et al and I have to say it’s something I’m not particularly looking forward to. Ultimately it doesn’t help VR’s standing in the minds of the populous in the slightest. We’ve kind of wondered just what ZeniMax have planned within VR itself, and this prediction is that within this year we’ll have our answer – and it will include details of ZeniMax’s own headset.

Yes, it would make far more sense to leave well alone until things are finally settled in court. I just don’t think they’d care that much about complicating the issue further still. I’m not saying it’ll be a world beater, it may even be something akin to that being produced by Starbreeze (and now Acer) with the StarVR, more targeting event spaces and VR arcades than home use. But I’m thinking if ZeniMax think they are entitled to a piece of the pie (if not the pie entirely) they have the financial clout behind then that they may continue thing by getting more directly involved in the hardware. As for how it is revealed, well it’ll probably be some sort of patent filing as opposed to any actual announcement but either way.

You’re probably thinking that if that actually happened it’d make things very interesting indeed, setting the cat among the proverbial pigeons… and you’d be completely right on that point. So let’s address that next!

11) …And Is Hit With A Patent Violation Claim By Oculus. AND Others

I’ve always been of the opinion that the only thing preventing VR from ultimately becoming a success was itself. That is to say the most likely path for immersive technology was to fail was if it effectively ate itself. Since the beginning of the present generation of VR (let’s call it the second generation after that from the nineties and that which we’re heading towards the third) there’s been something of a degree of camaraderie, for want of a better word, between companies. Whilst the fanbases of each HMD can sometimes throw their toys out of the pram for the makers themselves there’s still that altruistic feeling of ‘we’re all in this together’, even if in some areas they’re not and there’s the odd barbed comment that zips across from Middle Manager No. 6.

ZeniMax do not exactly give off that sense. So, if things do kick off with a ZeniMax HMD expect that, beyond the inevitable claim from Oculus that the headset violates their own patents, that other hardware developers claim the same. Samsung seem destined to be dragged ever deeper into the lawsuit anyway and aren’t afraid of litigation over patents (see: Apple) but I wouldn’t put it past HTC or Sony to make a complaint too to protect their own interests.

Lawsuits! Litigation! Injunctions! Blocks! Unimaginable legal power! Unlimited legal rice pudding! Etc…

12) But It’s Samsung That Surprises Everyone

When all is said and done I’m going to put my virtual money on Samsung being the hardware manufacturer that actually makes one of the biggest splashes this year with something complete out of leftfield. New hardware? Probably. I think we’re owed something from Samsung in that regard now.  The Gear VR does the job and always has done but when it comes down to it is it enough to continue tweaking the design every so often – or is it time for them to step up their game?  I think the latter, and if they cut loose we could see something quite special.

Technically I have several more predictions but I might add those in a supplemental update down the road. For now though that’s the end of my predictions for this year. We’ll see how well I did this time in 2019.

from VRFocus http://ift.tt/2DJJyN3